Absolutely!

I went PC-Mac in 2007 after my previous laptop - an £1800 IBM Thinkpad - went back to IBM for repair one time too many in the first few years.

The industry I'm in is so Mac biased, people are almost religious about Macs, and their self-righteous smugness was what kept my from trying a Mac for so long. However, once I got one, after about a week I was seeing some benefit - after a month I knew I'd never go back.

Generally speaking, Macs just work. PCs always took me a hideous amount of time trying to get them to do what I wanted. Macs just do it, it's almost a bit boring in a way.

I am also a committed Mac fan, but will mention some of the potential disadvantages:

1. MacBooks are more expensive than PC laptops, though the gap narrows significantly if you compare with a PC laptop with all the same features (see the Which? report).

2. I highly recommend getting a 2 year extended warranty: all my PowerBooks and MacBooks have needed repair valued at more than the cost of a warranty, probably because I treat them roughly and they travel everywhere with me. (Being a cheapskate, I have found you can buy the extended warranty half price on US eBay!). Apple Store repairs are much faster than authorised repairers.

3. The current version of Microsoft Office for Mac does not support macros (they are promised for the next release). You either need to run the previous version of Office (easy if it is still installed), or use Office for Windows.

Your first sentence is 100% right on. Mac people seem to feel a constant need to proclaim their choice of computer to the world as if it mattered, prefacing every sentence with 'Macs just..' But don't Macs run on Intel stuff these days? Other than designing the trendy case that other people's parts fit into, do they really design any hardware anymore? I'm asking because I don't know. For the record I'm brand-agnostic (they don't care about me, so I see no reason to fall in love with a company). Just buy whatever is cheapest but sufficient for your tasks then throw it away when it's old. Windows laptops these days are so cheap as to be disposable, though a comparably equipped mac will cost more for reasons that escape me.

To articulate further the point made by nbevan, Macs generally require the user to have deeper pockets that PCs do - particularly when it comes to peripherals. Stuff like losing a power adaptor or cracking your screen can be eye-wateringly expensive compared to doing the same on a PC. And unlike PCs, you can't always wander down to PC World or Maplin and find a huge range of cheap components made by different suppliers; often you're stuck with the pricy Mac Shops and genuine Apple products.

Is it worth the extra? Yeah, of course - but you should bear it in mind that if economy computing is what you're about, go with a PC.

Timely thread - having been burgled last week, and now being laptop-less, need to decide whether it's a replacement Windows based machine, or splurge on a mac....

One thing that's putting me off is the relative cost of a mac - I generally buy an entry level ish (£450 or thereabouts) and then replace it every 2-3 years. From a cursory look at mac prices, it's going to be pretty much double that.

Might need to call on Dave_C's expertise...

Another PC to Mac convert... I switched in 2004, and have never regretted it.

When I take it away with me, there is no messing about to log onto the hotel wireless networks and the likes, just doe it all automatically. Wen I go back to the same hotels, I do not need to enter the passwords any more for he wireless, it has them stored and connects straight away.

Very fast, quick, easy to use. I have the entry level MacBook, and for £699 or whatever it was I paid when I upgraded last year, was well worth it. The standard spec is great.

As for it getting hot... it gets a little warm sometimes, but nothing to write home about...

I say go for it and you will discover a whole new world!

I would disagree with you on this KenJohn - there is plenty of opportunity to "fiddle around" with the Mac under the hood if you really want; it is Unix after all! You just need to be comfortable with the terminal. The power is there if you want it, need it & know how to control it(!) but as most people haven't got a clue about how to drive the 800-ton, 48-wheeled behemoth which is Unix, it's better that it remains safely hidden until such time that you may need it!

In my opinion, this is why the Mac is the best of both worlds for those of us who can "speak" Unix - fluffy, cuddly GUI when we're using the iLife suite of tools; hard-core command-line when we need to "get dirty" with the ability to install all manner of Unix packages! For example, all of my text processing is done by an installation of LaTeX and edited using TeXnicCenter; it produces beautiful, professional documents without the need for Pages, Office or even Neo/Open Office - steep learning curve, though ;)

Mac all the way.

I don't think you need to replace Macs as often as you do PCs though -that's one of their plusses. I have a GV, ordered on the day they launched, so it's pushing 6 or 7 years old... and I'm only now having to consider that it might be starting to get a bit old and tired and need replacement. Obviously that's a desktop, so I can't comment on the robustness of laptops...

I will add, Dave_C convinced me to buy a mac, so if you go to him, I know what you'll be buying ;) :cool:

Mac without a doubt (even if the wifi in the T5 lounges has occasionally not let mine log on!... although admittedly this was a fault on BAs side)

The Air is the one I try and carry with me... it is slower than the others but so portable, and the 17'' Mac Book Pro I tend to leave at home, or take with me only if I need to burn DVDs on the road or use film editing software etc.

When I get home, they connect beautifully to the 30'' HD monitor (which is a dream) and to the airport base station / time machine which handles any backups of changed files automatically, so the next time I leave the house I know if the laptops get nicked, everything is safe.

Yes, you'll keep on upgrading and spending money, but coming home with new Mac gear in its gorgeous packaging is like carrying haute couture :)

And therein lies the difference. Mac users enthuse. PC users advocate buying any old rubbish which works ;)

It is interesting, in a thread specifically asking which the OP should buy, no-one is championing the PC corner...

For my work laptop, i chose a Mac. If it was my money, i'd choose a PC.

Hello I would like to add my 2p to this.

I had a HP running XP, I would rebuild it every 3-6 months, starts very fast, then I would run all the SP's and Fixes, and it would be back to same slow boot up speed. Very very slow. It's a good processor but the HDD would spend all day loading.

After quite a bit of research I decided to try a Mac, I was a bit apprehensive because I still do development in Visual Studio, but as destere said, I've never looked back.

I bought the 17inch Unibody MacBook Pro in March this year, I agree that it's a lot of money for a laptop but I was just fed up with the troubleshooting and hacking I had to do with XP, i really don't have the time to do this any more, I needed something that works out of the box and the MBP fulfilled this.

I still need to run Windows Apps so I use VMWare Fusion, though Parallels is good and you can also get Sun's VirtualBox for FREE. In fact I have found that XP is more stable on VMWare!!!

Pros
- Good reliable hardware (so far)
- OS is very stable (with Snow Leopard on the horizon - more speed increases on their way)
- OS upgrade to only cost $29 (how much to upgrade XP/Vista etc..)
- User Interface so intuitive
- No known viruses/trojan horses to infect the mac (though there Trojan horses but that's through installing pirated software from BitTorrent)
- No need for Anti-virus/
- Can still run XP/Vista using Virtual Machines technology (VirtualBox, VMWare Fusion/Parallels/Bootcamp)
- At least 6-7 hours battery use for my MBP17
- in OSX extra software built in whereas in XP/Vista you have to buy
- Just one desktop version of MacOSX (none of this Vista Home, Light, Ultimate, Superduper..... and whatever they call it)

Cons
- Mac UK Keyboard slightly different, eg: @ in the different place but not a huge learning curve
- I'm having trouble connecting up a dual-screen setup at home
- Very expensive in comparison to a PC.

I'm very pro-Mac but my usual advice to most people is to look at what you want to do with the machine and then decide.

There are some specialist areas where PCs still command pretty much the whole software market and Mac representation is, at best, one of 'poor relations'. Accounts software springs to mind as one example. If it's mission-critical to you then you should consider this. Suggestions of Parallels or BootCamp are all well and good but both of these inflate the price as you have to purchase a copy of Windows - so you can wave goodbye to around GBP100 just for that. I also tend to think running Windows on a Mac does seem rather perverse - you'd be better off buying a cheap Windows box.

Generally, though, I've yet to meet a Mac user who does anything other than enthuse about their machine whereas all PC users tend to do is whinge about theirs.

Macs do generally last longer - my parents iMac lasted about 8 years before it was finally replaced with a Mac Mini a couple of years ago.

In terms of warranty I think AppleCare is pretty much essential for an iMac or laptop as if the screen fails this can be an expensive repair. If you purchase a laptop from John Lewis they do give 2 years warranty free of charge. You'll also get 4 BA miles per pound instead of 2 from the Apple Store (hey - this IS the BA board !).

As to the claim by KenJohn that most techies dislike Macs because they can't 'fiddle' this is not really true. I'm head of IT where I work and I much prefer Macs because they cause me far less hassle and they are far easier to fit into existing networks. The end users tend to like them as well so it's a win-win proposition. An XServe as a file server leaves a Windows box for dead both in terms of specification and value for money. I'm aware some IT 'professionals' look on Macs with disdain but it is usually ignorance and fear of the unknown when you get right down to it. They also want to protect their jobs by having systems that are hard to set up and administer.

I'm also not sure I 'buy' the argument about peripherals being more expensive. I can't think of anything to buy that isn't a generic item. Memory, USB and FireWire drives, screens, mouses, keyboards - you can buy a cheap one and just plug it in. But if you must go to PCWorld or Maplin then, really, you deserve to be ripped off...

BAH

Mac all day everyday!

anytime i use windows how i find it so slow, it just feels like going back in time!

mac is an addition once you get started!

once u go mac you never go back ;)